A heavy silence lingered. The uncomfortable tension extended to the guards standing behind Daniel; despite their wounds, they kept their heads bowed in shame, unable to meet their employer's eyes.
In the wake of the midnight commotion, Yujin and Daniel set the remaining intact tables and chairs upright and sat facing each other.
It was Daniel who broke the razor-sharp silence.
"…You are truly no ordinary warrior."
Daniel's heart had nearly stopped when Platinum, a senior executive of the Armorless Union, had appeared. He had feared a public execution was about to take place within his own walls. His guards had lunged forward to protect him, but they were neutralized in a flash of arrows—until Yujin stepped in.
The assassin had come only to deliver a warning: We can take your life at any time. It was a near-perfect plan until a massive variable named Yujin shattered it. He possessed strength that defied logic, capable of intercepting a "Darkiron" arrow—a projectile most people believed was nothing more than an urban legend.
Daniel knew the youth was remarkable, but he hadn't imagined him to be a monster of this caliber. Yujin, meanwhile, was thinking along similar lines. He was already entangled in this mess; now he needed to understand the board and find a way to break it.
"You overpraise me."
"Overpraise? I've never seen a man leap over a building using nothing but raw leg strength." Daniel sighed, shaking his head. "Your humility is excessive. Regardless, to explain this situation... I need to finish the story I started before."
The story Daniel had hesitated to tell. The story of the family he resented.
The Nearl family, once one of the pillars of Kazimierz, had faded into a shadow of its former self, but it had once been bathed in the most brilliant glory. They were of royal descent.
"Wait a moment," Yujin interrupted. "The Nearl family was royalty?"
"Yes. Though few today care to remember it."
Golden hair and golden eyes—the symbols of the Pegasus royalty. Those who bore the name Nearl carried it as a mark of pride and honor. But then came Kharanduu Khagan, and he trampled everything.
"I apologize for interrupting again, but you mean the Khagan..."
"The Nightzmora horde, led by the Great Khagan. You've heard of them, surely?"
Yujin's memory sparked. He had heard of the greatest conqueror in Terra's history, a living calamity. He had first crushed the Hippogryph Empire (now Ursus), then the Kingdom of Kazimierz. He went on to Victoria, home of the Draco, and then Gaul—conquering the continent one empire at a time until he reached the desert empire of Sargon. It was a legendary tale, and Yujin could easily see which historical figure from his old world had served as the inspiration.
"The Khagan crushed Kazimierz with overwhelming force. Because of that defeat, the Pegasus royalty lost the people's trust and fell."
Though the Pegasi were defeated, the remaining knightly houses cried for continued resistance. From that defiance, the current Union of Kazimierz Knightly Orders was born. The Pegasi, having lost their throne, became the Nearl family—a mere knightly household.
"But there is a catch," Daniel continued. "History books claim the Union of Knightly Orders drove out the Pegasi and fought the Khagan until they were forced to their knees. The truth is much uglier."
They hadn't even fought the Khagan. They fell into internal power struggles and infighting, collapsing from within.
"…Fools," Yujin muttered.
"I agree." Daniel watched Yujin's flat expression. "The end result was the Pegasi's lands being handed over to the Khagan in exchange for peace. The Nearl family should have been wiped out then, but they survived only because the other knightly houses were too busy fighting each other to finish us off."
Daniel looked Yujin in the eye.
"This is why I'm telling you this. To this day, the name 'Nearl' is an irritant to the other families. They look at us like a thorn in their side."
Now, when the Nearl family was at its lowest, they wanted to erase the name from Kazimierz forever. Daniel's eyes were filled with a tired resignation.
"No matter how much we struggle, the current Nearl family lacks a true master of the blade. This upcoming Major is meant to be our public execution."
Daniel gave a bitter smile. They had "qualified" for the Major only because the powers that be—the Merchant Association—had rigged the results. They wanted to drag the Nearls onto the grandest stage just to watch them fall from the greatest height. The visit from the Armorless Union was a warning: Leave this city before we make it worse for you.
"…That is the reality of the situation. Unfortunately."
The Major was set to be a crossroads: the execution of a legacy, and a political battlefield between the Sport Knights and the Campaign Knights. In this tangled web, Yujin saw his path.
"Daniel, do you trust me?"
"…What?"
Yujin looked at him with an intensity that made the older man pause. His platinum eyes seemed to burn.
"I don't know. I know you're a good man, but..." Daniel trailed off. They hadn't known each other long enough for a bond of absolute faith.
"Then, let me ask you this: do you hate those people?" Yujin pointed toward the skyscrapers that touched the clouds. The ones who had spent Daniel's entire life trying to stab his family in the back. The Kazimierz Merchant Association and the Armorless Union.
"…That, I can answer with certainty. I despise them."
"Then let's turn this whole thing upside down."
Daniel flinched at the audacity. Yujin's goal was to reach the peak of knighthood. Daniel wanted to preserve the Nearl name and simply endure.
"Turn it upside down? What are you saying?"
Finally, Yujin revealed his true purpose for coming to Kazimierz. As a Sarkaz, a Knight of Kazdel, and an outsider, he wanted to make a name for himself and reach the heights of this land. Daniel's eyes widened. He understood immediately what Yujin was proposing.
The Major was not a solo endeavor. Knightly orders and corporations often cycled through participants to manage stamina. And in Kazimierz traditions, the right of a "Champion" or a representative to stand for a House was sacred. From the main rounds onward, it was a pure individual tournament. A House could appoint its most skilled member or a designated representative.
Yujin wanted to be the Nearl family's representative.
"…But," Daniel stammered, "even if you win, the Association won't just stand by. They'll use every dirty trick to crush you."
"Don't worry. I'm doing this because I want to. And besides, my Master told me something once."
I know what you fear.
In this world, there are monsters and nightmares.
Sea-terrors crawling from the depths.
Demons descending from the North.
Humanity isn't ready for those things yet. If they can't even handle their own responsibilities, how can they face those trials?
"Assaults, plots, traps, monsters, demons... if you can stand tall and crush all of it with nothing but your own two feet and a single sword... then, and only then, are you worthy of the name 'Hero.'"
Yujin gave Daniel a bright, fierce grin.
"If I can't stand tall while ignoring all their pathetic schemes, then I'm not worthy of being called a knight, am I?"
Watching the boy, Daniel finally broke into a laugh. He worried for his son, Kiril, but his nature wouldn't let him simply roll over and die after being threatened by the Union. The choice was clear.
"I suppose I should call you 'comrade' from now on."
"I look forward to working with you."
It was the birth of an unexpected alliance aimed at shattering the status quo.
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